30 November 2025
North Sydney Council has disclosed further schedule slippage and rising financial risks on its long-running Olympic Pool redevelopment, with new documents indicating that practical completion is now unlikely before mid-February 2026 and that the 21 month-old project budget of $122 million is under increasing strain from unresolved variations and delays. Our sources predict the eventual out-turn cost is now likely to approach $150 million.
A report from council director of open space and infrastructure Gary Parsons, tabled for Monday night’s meeting, shows that while construction is transitioning into testing and commissioning, the program has again shifted. Contractor Icon is now forecasting practical completion on 5 January 2026, almost 18 months beyond the revised contractual date of 19 July 2024. Council’s independent programmer has advised that mid-February is a more realistic target.
Operational readiness activities, including review of operation and maintenance manuals and witness testing, are now underway. Icon is seeking to secure an occupation certificate by late December, a prerequisite for practical completion. Even after handover, council expects a further two to three months for commissioning before opening to the public.
The new slippage requires further extensions for all major consultancies to 30 January 2026. Brewster Hjorth Architects will receive an additional $206,692, project manager APP Group $160,416, programmer CPM $9,440, and quantity surveyor Bluestone Management $28,400. Council has also authorised extending the contract works insurance to 28 February 2026 at a cost of $204,538.
The report shows continuing complexity in design resolution and quality assurance. Total Requests for Information have reached 2,137, with 52 lodged since October and 51 closed. Quality issues have risen from 82 to 109 over the same period, although 226 have been resolved to date.
Variation activity continues to dominate the commercial environment. Icon has now submitted 690 variation claims, with 41 received since the last report. Council is currently assessing 160 claims. In addition, council acknowledges that a further 89 variation claims worth approximately $3.5 million are known but have not yet been submitted, and that more are expected through to completion due to unresolved design and contractual issues.
While the agreed construction contract sum stands at $92.52 million, only $170,556 in new variations have been assessed and closed since October.
The $122 million forecast cost-to-completion budget approved in February 2024 remains the official figure. However, the report concedes that the scale of outstanding variations, additional consultancy extensions and new insurance costs “will place pressure on the allocated budget”. No updated cost estimate is supplied in the public papers, and council officers are unable to quantify the extent of overruns in the absence of settled variation outcomes. On available trajectories, the final cost appears likely to move toward $150 million.
Construction began in March 2021 on the redevelopment, which includes a 970-seat grandstand, new 50m and leisure pools, a 25m indoor pool, spa and sauna facilities, a gym and creche, internal café and retail areas, and the reconstruction of the former Ripples Café on Olympic Boulevard.
Council will consider the report in closed session under commercial-in-confidence provisions, with related attachments — including the detailed variation schedule — remaining confidential unless otherwise resolved.